A Christmas Carolyn
by Lothiriel84
Summary: Deck the halls with Martin's brolly / Fa-la-la-la-laa la-la-la-laa.


It had all started with Arthur's overzealous efforts to decorate the Portakabin, and a bunch of mistletoe he'd insisted on hanging right above the door.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," Douglas announced after she'd spent half an hour thwarting Herc's not-so-subtle attempts at getting her under the damn thing so that he could kiss her.

"Is it really?" she threw back, her tone so tart it could curdle new milk. "All right then, First Officer Casanova – fancy a little bet?"

Douglas' Cheshire Cat grin was more eloquent than any answer. "You know I'm going to win, no matter what."

"We'll see," she said in her best Queen Victoria attitude. "I bet you you can't get a kiss from every single person that walks through that door, for the next twelve days."

"So long as you're not part of the game, we're on."

"Of course I'm not," she glared at him. "Cabin crew is definitely out, as is obviously Herc."

Douglas quirked a questioning eyebrow. "You're not really expecting me to kiss men as well."

"Why ever not? Do you think I have forgotten Bangkok, by any chance?"

A strangled noise from the other end of the room signalled that Martin was desperately trying to conceal his surprise at such statement. However, they both ignored him, as she silently dared her First Officer to chicken out of the bet.

"Fine. If I win, you give me a bottle of Talisker – same twenty-five-year-old stuff that you provide for Mr Birling."

"And if I win, you give me back every single one you stole from me in the past few years."

"Don't be ridiculous. You know I've already sold those."

Martin groaned at the mention of Talisker, and scuttled off muttering something about coffee.

Carolyn shrugged and conceded Douglas' point. "Fine. Two bottles it is then."

"You're on," the man smirked, and thus the contest began.

xxx

"She just gave you a little peck on the cheek," Carolyn argued after their latest client had left. "It doesn't count as a kiss."

"Then you should have declared the terms more clearly," Douglas countered suavely. "Sorry."

It was Christmas Eve, and the twelve days were going to end at midday precisely. So far Douglas had had luck on his side, as was his wont; middle-aged women and old ladies weren't exactly a difficult target, especially for someone as charming as her First Officer could be, and he'd even managed to chat up a nervous young man they'd flown to Paris last week.

She was already considering coming up with a scheme of her own when Martin stumbled through the door balancing a stack of paperwork and a mug of coffee, only to bump into Douglas and spill the coffee all over himself.

"A-ha!" Carolyn exclaimed as Martin stuttered an apology and tried to wipe away a smudge of coffee from the First Officer's otherwise pristine jacket.

"What?" Douglas enquired absent-mindedly as he offered Martin his own handkerchief, then literally froze on the spot. "Come on, you can't be serious. You're the one who said cabin crew was out."

"But he's not cabin crew, is he?" she clarified smugly. "He's, as he always likes to point out, the Supreme Commander of this vessel. And we still have seven minutes in hand, if I'm not mistaken."

"Hang on," Martin cut in, panic apparent in his voice. "Carolyn, you just can't –"

He was right, of course; she wouldn't do that to her pilots, but she could still enjoy having the upper hand for as long as it lasted. She was about to tell them she would be gracious enough to call the bet off if Douglas agreed they had reached a stalemate, when something happened that she wasn't quite expecting.

Douglas took a step forward, and for a moment there Martin looked just like he couldn't believe he was going to get exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Then the older man clenched his fists and turned away, but not without gracing his employer with a particularly vicious glare.

"All right, you win. Have a nice day, Carolyn."

With that he burst out of the door, leaving a bemused Martin to blame himself for something that wasn't even remotely his fault.

xxx

It was Arthur who helpfully informed her that Martin was hiding in the flight deck, and looked as if he was trying very hard not to cry on any important equipment. Carolyn sighed as she felt the beginning of a headache pounding against her forehead; how was she supposed to know that those two idiots secretly fancied each other whilst not having the slightest idea that their feelings were entirely mutual?

She'd always known that Douglas swung both ways, though he generally preferred women; but not in a thousand years she would have guessed that Martin did a bit too, even after witnessing how well he and Diego the Spanish engineer had seemed to get along during that memorable trip to Johannesburg. Well, now it was up to her to try and fix things before either of her pilots decided to quit their job or did anything equally ridiculous.

Martin didn't bother turning around when she entered the flight deck; he was curled in the captain's seat with his knees huddled to his chest, and she wondered for the umpteenth time how a grown man could still look so young and vulnerable half the time.

"I'm sorry, Martin," she admitted somewhat wearily. "It was childish of me – I do apologise."

"It's fine," he shrugged, then went on as if talking to himself. "Though I can't pretend I understand why Douglas reacted that way. I mean, he kissed all those people as if it didn't bother him at all – but I suppose I'm not ever worth a bottle of Talisker, am I?"

Carolyn pinched the bridge of her nose, forcing herself to remember Martin's disastrous lack of self-confidence and self-worth. "Has it occurred to you that maybe there is a very specific reason why he wouldn't do that?"

The man turned a blank stare on her. "I suppose it would have been awkward, given the fact that we're co-pilots. And friends, probably. Though one can't really be sure when it comes to Douglas."

"Listen to me, Martin. If you were in Douglas' shoes, who's the person you wouldn't under any circumstance kiss as part of a bet?"

"Oh," the Captain exhaled at length, his face lighting up like Arthur's did on Christmas morning.

And when Douglas called later that evening to inform that he and Martin were both going to take a day off tomorrow, she was magnanimous enough not to tease him about it.

She would have all the time in the world to mess with the man when he came back to work after all.


End file.
